Single Parent Faith

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

NO ONE WILL BEGRUDGE ME

I talk about it sometimes with Him, all the suffering in the world.

“Dear God,” I have prayed, “how is it possible

all the horrors I have seen, all the atrocities you allow man

to commit when you—God—are ever standing

so near and could help us?

Could we not hear your voice say ‘No’

with such love and power

never again would

we harm?”

And my Lord replied, “Who would understand if I said that I

cannot bear

to confine a wing, and not let it learn from the course it chooses.”

But what of a man walking lost in a forest

weeping and calling your name for help, and unknown to him he

is heading for a covered pit with sharp spears in it

that will maim his flesh when he crashes

through the trap?

“Yes, why don’t I remove every object from this world that could

cause someone to weep? Yes, why don’t I speak in a way

that could save a life?

I opened up my hand and the Infinite ran to the edges of space—

and all possibilities are contained therein, all possibilities,

even sorrow.

In the end, nothing that ever caused one pain will exist.

No one will begrudge me.

The Absolute Innocence of all within my creation

takes a while to understand.”

—St. Catherine of Sienna (Born 1347, in Siena, Italy)

From: “Love poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West,” by Daniel Ladinsky, 2002. New York, NY: Penguin Compass.

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There is so much we do not understand. In recent months, globally we’ve experienced tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, wildfires, flooding…….

Many use the existence of tragedy, as a litmus test to assert that God doesn’t exist. That disasters and pain exist, they conclude that therefore, God must not exist because if He did, how could He let this happen?

Good question. Smart question. We obviously expect so much more out of God. Why not? He’s God. It’s not unreasonable to expect God to place us in a pristine environment where we live our days in extreme joy 24/7, never experiencing illness nor calamities.

What is it about human nature that we arrogantly demand that God fit our notion and definition of what He should be? How could we mortal people, flawed and limited in knowledge (no matter how many PhD’s, there is no human who is all knowing) reasonably expect that we have the authority to demand God fit a concept we (mere mortals) created? We are already trying to fit God in a box, when we impose our (mere mortal) expectations of Him.

He’s big enough to love us when we hate him, to love us when we question His existence, to love us when we take Him for granted, to love us when we are confused, and to love us when we are arrogant.

To fully understand the depth and breadth of everything that is God, is not in our human capacity. And yet we arrogantly judge Him, condemning Him for all we think He is not. He planted for us an opportunity to get a glimpse of Him, and mere mortals arrogantly judged and crucified Him.

God is big enough to invite us to ask Him questions. God is big enough to allow for our lack of acknowledgment and denial, and exist anyway.

Ella Venezia